By Mulengera ReportersWith Ruth Nankabirwa bouncing back and effectively holding forte as district NRM Chairperson, the ruling NRM party cadres are working day and night to ensure recapture of the Kiboga Woman MP Seat while holding onto local council positions and the two direct MP seats namely Kiboga East and West.The district has a total of 14 sub counties and three town councils (namely Bukomero, Kiboga & Rwamata). The NRA history-rich Kiboga has the following rural sub counties: Muwanga, Nakasozi, Ddwaniro, Kaayera, Kapece, Kibiga which borders Kasanda, Nkandwa, Rwamata rural, Bukomero rural and Kyomya etc.These are all NRM-dominated sub counties which is why Kiboga largely remained unassailed even in 2021 when the NUP wave was at its strongest peak. Only the Kiboga Woman MP seat was lost to NUP’s Christine Kaaya Nakimwero who managed to win because of the intrigue and infighting that cropped up as a result of Ruth Nankabirwa’s busy schedule then as GCW, which kept her away from the constituency as she concentrated on national duty.It’s also true that some of the national level intrigue was exported to Kiboga as Nankabirwa’s NRM rivals at the national level clandestinely weighed in to help NUP’s Nakimwero!The 2021 defeat of the hitherto invincible Dr. Ruth Nankabirwa amounted to humiliating the mighty NRM party brand and also caused Gen Museveni to feel betrayed by the people of Kiboga with whom he had always had an excellent political relationship since the bush war days in the 1980s. Whereas the NUP candidate Bobi Wine won in nearby Mityana and Kasanda districts, Kiboga still voted for Museveni and not the NUP big man. It actually remains a Museveni stronghold and NRM’s too.So, there is conviction that after mending fences and reflecting on the cost the 2021 infighting caused them, the NRM cadres (who unanimously allowed Nankabirwa to bounce back as party chairperson for the district) have now learnt their lesson and are prepared to fortify the ruling party’s fortunes while totally obliterating the NUP remnants.Big-name NRM mobilisers like ex-LC5 Chairman Siraje Kizito Nkugwa and Rwamata’s Buyisi Bwomu, who had defected to NUP and caused a lot of damage in 2021, have since mended fences with Gen Museveni and rejoined the Movenent. They have actually been leading other hitherto disgruntled NRM cadres in publicly apologizing and regretting ever backing NUP whose Woman MP seat fluker Christine Kaaya Nakimwero they aren’t on talking terms with anymore.Leading by example, Dr. Ruth Nankabirwa has since donated a full floor on her huge commercial building in the middle of Kiboga town to permanently house the NRM district offices in Kiboga and it’s where the party’s district registrar (a one Yawe) is commanding from. She has also promised to leverage her closeness to the President and other big people in Kampala to lobby and bring campaign logistics to motivate cadres to campaign harder against NUP.Even when there are a few mild petitions here and there, the party primaries in Kiboga were generally a peaceful affair, all courtesy of Dr. Nankabirwa’s parental approach and deliberate efforts to keep the Kiboga party chapter members united. It wasn’t the violent Kiboga it used to be in the past during election time.The defeated outgoing Kiboga West MP Settuba Mutumba is one of the few who have petitioned but the good news is that he is politically sophisticated and too NRM to ever betray his beloved party by standing as an independent.He lost the primaries to a one Eric Lule who is based in Kampala. On Saturday, Mutumba appeared on Radio Kiboga and raised a red flag on what he thinks went wrong. He claimed that votes from areas where he won had been excluded on grounds of late delivery and submission to the tally centre.Nankabirwa is trying her best to mend fences and reconcile all post-party primaries aggrieved losers, on especially the Woman MP post. There are also ethnic sentiments among some cadres who inappropriately think that a none Muganda shouldn’t carry the NRM flag in Kiboga.Yet in Balaalo-dominated sub counties like Ddwaniro, Kapece and Rwamata rural, anti-Baganda cadres’ sentiments are high and wide spread. But gratefully, the ruling party can count on Dr. Ruth Nankabirwa’s seniority to quickly cause de-escalation and steady the boat.Once independents are minimised and the NRM primary polls winners (Desire Muhooza for Woman MP, Mpiro Wavamunno Kalungi for LC5 who retained his seat after defeating lawyer Moses Senjogera, Kefa Kiwanuka for Kiboga East and Eric Lule for Kiboga West) are allowed to go without being contradicted by fellow ruling party cadres, there is certainty that the ruling party will strengthen its political control and position in Kiboga, to the total detriment of Kyagulanyi’s NUP.Because it’s nearer Kampala and generally more urbanized and exposed, majority NUPians are over concentrating on Kiboga West for which NRM is fronting Eric Lule who defeated the incumbent Mutumba Settuba in party primaries. Kiboga town council, which is the district’s main town, is in Kiboga West constituency.In Kiboga town, unhealthy competition for the area flag bearership from Kamwokya has forced several NUP flag bearer position seekers to each open a rival party office to engender personal mobilisation. This is bad strategy for resources-constrained NUP party whose cadres ought to be pulling in the same direction to be complementary as opposed to competing unnecessarily.As Nakimwero concentrates on praying hard and fasting so that the defeated NRM babes (like district Vice Chairperson Jacqueline Niyonshaba, Rhoda Kintu and Nakitende) keep around and stand as independents in order to diminish flag bearer Desire Muhooza’s chances (the desperate NUP babe can only thrive on divisions inside NRM), the other NUP cadres are menacingly battling for Kiboga West MP seat, which they consider to be vulnerable and easier to grab than any other.Those fighting for Kiboga West from the NUP camp include Grace Kakooza who lives abroad most of the time, a one Bukirwa, Australia-based Dr. Bukuulu and the vibe-filled Mohamood Kibuka who has invested more than Shs30m into opening up and furnishing a glamorous party office for NUP in Kiboga town. Others, including Dr. Bukuulu, have also opened up rival NUP party offices in Kiboga but none of them beats the one Kibuuka has put in place in terms of being posh and well furnished.As for the Woman MP Seat, NUP, whose Nakimwero has unsuccessfully been trying to infiltrate the ruling NRM party primaries to deliver a weak flag bearer, doesn’t stand much chance anymore. This is so because, as a lukewarm-performing incumbent, Christine Kaaya Nakimwero has a lot to answer for. Voters are frustrated that she hasn’t been visible and outspoken in Parliament in Kampala. Not during plenary sittings, not during Committee sessions when compared to giants like Semujju Nganda of Kira.She equally has been a poor community MP as she is rarely seen at public functions. She doesn’t take phone calls, mistaking many such unfortunate callers for poverty-stricken voters calling to present their financial problems, while begging her for cash handouts.As of 2021, many disgruntled NRMs fraternized with her in order to protest the fact that Gen Museveni was beginning to take Kiboga for granted because the district had always been over 95% NRM at all major elections since 1995.All these malcontents within NRM are now totally remorseful and ashamed of the disgraceful legislator Christine Kaaya Nakimwero has been for Kiboga, which had been used to much higher flying and publicity-attracting Woman MPs like Canon Dr. Ruth Nankabirwa, and the legendary Rhoda Kalema of much earlier on. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).